Community supports Students Affected by Fire

After a two-alarm fire left four undergraduate students homeless, the Tulane community provided them not only with material goods but unwavering support.

The fire occurred at approximately 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 28 at 2119 Calhoun Street, destroying the home of seniors Kallin Zehren, Amy Kane, Kylie Shadle and Gabrielle Gardiner.

“What didn’t burn was covered in soot and smelled terrible,” Zehren said. “We are not exactly sure what we can save at this point. We lost clothes, furniture, pots/pans, sentimental personal items, postcards from our traveling and all our art.”

Friends of the victims created a GoFundMe campaign to help ease the financial burdens caused by the fire.

Within one week of the campaign launching online, Facebook users shared the link approximately 1,100 times. As of Dec. 6, the campaign has raised $9,672 with that number still growing.

One of the many groups that reached out to the affected students was the Catholic Center.

“The night of the fire everyone from the Catholic Center came over to our friends’ house to console and cheer us up,” Zehren said. “They gave us clothes, toiletries, food, everything they had.”

As Zehren and Shadle are both members of Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity, the Greek community played a role in the students’ recovery from this incident as well.

“The entire Greek community is concerned for the well-being of the women affected by the house fire on Calhoun Street this week, and I’m proud to say that everyone has shown incredible support so far,” Panhellenic Council President Rebecca Shaffron said.

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